City Notebook: Keep eyes on the horizon
By COLLIN GALLANT on March 21, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant It’s the first day of spring. As Canadians know all too well, though, that is only a technicality. Sure, the Earth has moved into the correct position on our orbit. Our hemisphere will be tilted towards the sun, bringing warmer temperatures into the summer months. But whereas other places, more southerly locales, see first buds in late February and dandelions in March, those of us in the Great White North know that first welcoming embrace of real spring comes a little later. On February 2, ground hogs tell the rest of the world either that winter is over or it will still be cold in mid-March. This seems like nonsense at every point in Canada east of Vancouver. Here the first blast to truly nice weather is in April. You know this day, that feeling. The smell when the soil comes alive. That conscious decision to roll the car window down, the car stereo is turned up and the pedal is given that extra push in a quiet but deliberate celebration of life. This year the first day of spring will come a little later. It will come without that feeling of watching playoff hockey in short sleeves. But warmer weather is coming. Spring is coming. It will turn the brown, dusty, crusted landscape to green. Windows will be opened, the fresh air drunk in. You’ll see. Quotable Reviews of his poetry recitals are mixed, but Mayor Ted Clugston has obviously been trying to connect with an anxious, nervous and even terrified population this week. “I’ve had the wolves at my door,” Clugston said for the second time this week on Thursday. “There are times in life when you think that times are bleak and you’re not going to make it through, but in those situations you take it day-by-day or hour-by-hour, and you will get through whatever’s going on in your life. “We’re all in this together and no one is immune.” News rolls on This is no time for horn-blowing but the 50 Hatters who work at the News did a great job of scattering off in all directions this week. The building is closed to the public, but work continues in a brand new reality of working from home via telephone, internet and ever-connected by a contingency plan. In case you’re wondering, the production of the actual, physical paper involves limited staff (about 10 in a pretty big warehouse). Everyone’s got a story, though, and the News will do our best to help tell them. A look ahead Two city committee meetings scheduled for this week will go ahead as planned but with light open agendas. The sheer number of cancellations in Medicine Hat is so sweeping, that listing them is impossible. Assume postponed, but check with the source if needed for alternate plans. In that vein, a note from the Southeast Alberta Watershed Alliance reminds that March 22 is World Water Day. Though gatherings and presentations have been cancelled, it can still be privately observed. (The same idea should be applied more broadly. Officially, updates are provided by Alberta Health Services each afternoon at about 3 p.m., but find some time to disconnect and refresh. 100 Years Ago (Note: A funny thing happened while your author was covering the pandemic response and also stringing new Ethernet cable all over a former nursery this week. He forgot to bring home 100 years worth of back issues which help form this item. We’ll make the necessary adjustments for next week and bring you the latest up-to-date news from 1920 as soon as possible.) Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him (still) at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com 30-29
